City cops moving to suburbs to run departments

January 23, 2009 11:15 AM

By Frain Main, Annie Sweeney
Chicago Sun-Times

CHICAGO — Wade Ingram was a rookie in the Chicago Police Academy in 1985.

And one of his favorite instructors was Bill Kushner.

Now Kushner is the police chief in west suburban Berwyn -- but he has remained Ingram’s mentor.

Recently, Kushner suggested Ingram test the waters for a police chief’s job when he was eligible to retire from the Chicago Police Department at 50.

Ingram took Kushner’s advice and was sworn in Wednesday as the police chief of south suburban Markham.

The Chicago Police Department is an incubator for suburban police chiefs across the Chicago area in suburbs as varied as Morton Grove, Winnetka, Hazel Crest, Crete, River Forest and South Chicago Heights.

“We have the management expertise,” Ingram said. “And as outsiders, we can be more objective. There are a lot of small-town politics.”

Many of those chiefs managed more officers when they were on the Chicago Police Department than in their suburban jobs.

Ingram, for instance, was a lieutenant in charge of 96 police officers and 12 sergeants in the Chicago Police Department’s Targeted Response Unit. In Markham, he will supervise 55 officers and 10 civilians.

Paul Tasch Jr., a former Chicago Police captain, became Morton Grove’s police chief in 2005.

“Chicago prepares you well,” Tasch said. “The population in the 25th District was 212,000 -- and here it’s 24,000.”

James Paoletti, another former Chicago Police captain, is the police chief in Crete. He was a watch commander in one of Chicago’s roughest areas, Englewood.

“It’s sleepy compared to Englewood, but we still have issues that need to be addressed,” Paoletti said. “It’s so refreshing and so much fun. You’re the CEO. The only person I answer to is the mayor.”

Ingram said he will start by reviewing the Markham Police Department’s procedures and meeting with elected officials, ministers, school principals, block clubs and others to identify problems. He vowed to have a “zero tolerance” policy on corruption and brutality.